The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
The use of multi-function peripheral (MFP) devices has proliferated as offices have become more automated and less dependent on manual devices. Because of the potential of misuse, or a desire to accurately track expenses, many MFP devices are equipped with a cost control system. Typically, in a cost control system, every user has an account that is limited by the available funds in the account. Under such a cost control system, the user may begin a job which abnormally terminates prior to completion because of insufficient funds in the user's account, or because of other user permission issues.
Oftentimes, when a job abnormally terminates, the user's only recourse is to seek a modification of the usage information. For understandable reasons, users are generally not given permission to modify usage and account information, so the user must contact an administrator who can adjust the account information and restart the operation. Unfortunately, with existing MFP devices, a usage information adjustment requires a re-boot of the MFP device, resulting in loss of all current job information. Such a re-boot is inefficient as it leads to wasted physical resources and wasted labor.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for an approach for adjustment of usage information of MFPs in real-time.